Albarza Omani Resort

Project Information

Masterplan
Date: 2019
Status: Concept
Location: Muscat, Oman
Area: 25000
Client: Privet

Credit

Architecture

Design: Hooman Talebi 
project Lead: Iman Nedaei – Amir Badiee
Design Team: Farshad Nasiri, Mehrnaz Zarrin, Mahyar Rakei, Saleh Hariri

The Al Barza Resort in Oman has been entrusted to the MARZ Design Office by Sheikh Salim. This project is located near Muscat, on land that is away from the urban environment, set within the desert nature of Oman and characterized by diverse topographical elevations. The pattern of the topographic surface of the project site has been shaped by erosion, resulting in the formation of slopes around and within the central area, where a tributary from Wadi Alkhoud passes. A flat area has developed in the project’s central part, resembling tongues extending in all four directions between the slopes of the hills.

The climate here is characterized by scorching sun, warm winds, and humidity near the coast. In these conditions, it is crucial to protect against the southern and southwestern winds and the intense sun. A vast desert covers most of central Oman, particularly in Muscat, which experiences warm winds carrying sand during the hot months of the year. Given the project’s location and setup, it will be affected by these warm winds coming from the southwest. Therefore, creating shade and benefiting from the favorable sea breezes become essential. The selected site is among those chosen by the government to develop the tourism industry and attract visitors.

The project aims to establish a location that caters to two types of visitors: on one hand, non-resident tourists, and on the other, locals from Oman and neighboring Arab countries who have historical ties to the area. The project’s challenges stem from this cultural duality and the architectural response, which utilizes the topographical characteristics of the site to organize these two programs. The “walls” serve as the primary organizing element of the project, aligned with the elongated and curved lines of the topography in the elevated areas of the site. These walls flexibly adapt to the movements around them while enveloping villas with their towering shadows. In addition to providing separation and creating privacy, these walls also form pathways and alleys within themselves. With continuous extensions designed as shading elements, aligned with the drawn topographical lines, they create intermediate spaces and habitation gaps within the sun-drenched nature of Oman, incorporating varying degrees of transparency in their façades. The transparency of the walls fluctuates depending on their enclosures.

Among the walls, the definition of continuous surfaces at the same elevation level extensively traverses the ground of the site, forming platforms at different heights. These platforms morph into vast and elongated terraces that align with the site’s topography, creating continuous extensions at heights suitable for the villas.

 

Opposite to the hotel, which sits as a vast ring on the undulating terrain of the site, part of the structure is suspended above the ground. Its circular shape, characterized by pure geometry, occupies a unique position on the site, reminiscent of Omani architectural heritage, specifically fortresses. The central courtyard within the hotel’s circular space is elevated, thus connecting the interior of the hotel to a palm grove that expands at the lowest level of the site, in the depression created by seasonal stream flows. This palm grove acts as a green filter between the two groups of visitors with differing cultural and ritual backgrounds.

 The palm grove is connected to two bay-like spaces that rise to the upper levels, allowing access to the higher layers where the villas are situated. Surrounding this palm grove, a wide promenade is located at the boundary between the two areas, linking these spaces while maintaining their separation, and organizing service areas for the accommodation and residential villas beneath it—creating an active rooftop for the residents of the villas to stroll.

In the “Albarza Omani resort” project, the dualities of form and culture are intricately stitched together through an active landscape across various layers and levels, creating unity amidst distinctions.